Tag: Intergenerational conflict

I read this book slowly, trying to make it last, the way one does with a delicious pastry, taking small bites of it at a time. This bittersweet tale of an Iranian’s return to home of her childhood moves between the now and the past of Noor, daughter of Zod and Pari, owners of Cafe Leila. Along the way we learn of their history, too, and the bittersweet relationship of Noor and her daughter Lily.

Sprinkled in the text are not-quite-recipes, mouth-watering descriptions of the dishes served at Cafe Leila. They are enough to make you wish there was a restaurant near you serving such wonderful dishes.

As Noor negotiates the challenges of contemporary, post-revolutionary Iran, and her daughter’s sullen teenager opinion of being yanked out of today’s southern California freedom, we feel for Noor and want her and her daughter to be happy. Noor’s love for her daughter and her ailing, elderly father, form the central conflict of this story.